


Fate or Chance, I Don't Care, I'm Just Glad We Met At All

by blackfin



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Spoilers for P5!, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 00:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10842798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfin/pseuds/blackfin
Summary: He was dumb enough to not bring an umbrella but that mistake leads to a chance encounter with someone he thought long gone and with that encounter, brings the opportunity to mend a relationship he had thought lost and broken.





	Fate or Chance, I Don't Care, I'm Just Glad We Met At All

**Author's Note:**

> If I can't see it, it doesn't happen and that means, Akechi is fine. And no one can tell me otherwise  
> This is entirely a self-indulgent fic to make myself feel better after learning what happens to my favorite character so take it as that, pls  
> Currently accepting commissions, check my tumblr (s-aizo) for more details

He had picked the worst day to not bring an umbrella. 

It had only started raining a few moments ago but he was already soaked to the bone. Arms crossed firmly over his chest, shoulders hunched, hair plastered to his forehead and neck, his entire body shaking from the cold, Akira stared glumly at nothing in particular and tried hard not to make eye contact with anyone passing by. 

He imagined that he had to look ridiculous. Just some dumb kid who hadn’t been smart enough to grab an umbrella despite the weather woman repeatedly warning everyone that rain was absolutely guaranteed. And it wasn’t like he had a good reason for having one. He had just been distracted this morning with no one to tell him to not be a dumbass and made sure he brought one. Nobody’s fault but his own, he knew that. 

Which didn’t make his predicament any easier to swallow. He was freezing, wet and just wanted the light to change colors so he could continue his miserable journey home where he had already laid out a plan of stripping off everything, hurling himself into a warm bath before collapsing into bed to sleep off the horrid day he had had. It felt like the light had been telling him stay put for hours now, though he knew it had only been seconds. 

Shifting his weight from one foot to another, he let out a long, shaky breath and whispered, “Come on, already.”

Suddenly, the rain stopped pelting down onto his head. Confused, as he could still clearly see that it was still falling around him, Akira leaned his head back to find some beautiful soul had come up behind him and was holding their umbrella over their head. Letting his shoulders slump in relief, he made to turn around to thank the Samaritan when they suddenly spoke up. 

“It feels like it’s fate for us to meet like this.”

He froze, his eyes going wide, practically bulging out of his skull. All the breath went out of his lungs in one hard exhale. That voice...it couldn’t be who he thought it was, who he recognized that voice to belong to. Inside his chest, his heart began to race in a mixture of hope and fear. He wanted to turn around, to see who it was but at the same time, he wanted to keep his eyes forward, to never see who it was that spoke because it couldn’t be him, there was no way it was him.

He was gone. He had already accepted that. He had grieved, sobbed, screamed and started moving forward, away from that loss. Hearing that voice, it was just his imagination - just leftover pain manifesting as a illusion of something he desperately desired. Just a sign that he hadn’t completely gotten over his death. That was all. 

There came a soft chuckle, laced with immense sadness, from behind him, “So, you can’t even look at me? Though, it’s not like I can blame you.”

His body moved on his own. Slowly, his breath frozen in his throat, limbs feeling leaden, he turned around, mind stuttering and stared in blank shock at the person standing behind him. 

“Akechi.” He breathed, his voice barely audible. 

Immediately, he noticed just how horrible Akechi looked. He had lost a significant amount of weight, leaving his face hollow and gaunt; there were heavy, dark bags underneath his once alert, attentive eyes - now, those eyes were exhausted, weary and blank; his skin was pale, giving off a sickly hue that made his stomach clench. The arm holding out the umbrella was shaking, though he couldn’t tell if it was because he was too weak to hold it up or if he was frightened. 

Taking a step forward, he reached up and gently brushed the pad of his thumb along his pale, sunken in cheek. His skin was freezing cold; now that he was closer, he could see that he was shivering. A shock ran through Akechi's body the moment his thumb touched his skin but he made no move to pull away. Instead, it seemed as though he was trying incredibly hard to not lean into Akira's touch.

“How?” He forced out, taking another step forward. 

Akechi slowly shook his head, “I don’t know. After what happened, I know I should have died but I guess something, somewhere had a different plan for me.” He chuckled, a hollow, harsh sound that sent a bolt of pain through Akira’s heart. 

“Where have you been since then? Why didn’t you tell us?! We-!” He stopped, pulled in a deep breath, feeling tears burning his eyes, sobs pressing hard at the back of his throat before reaching forward to cup Akechi’s disconcertingly cold, bony face in the curve of his palms and whispered, “Why?”

Akechi tried to avoid his eyes, tears clearly welling up in his own, his chest hitching as he choked out, his voice heavy with suppressed sobs, “After what I had done? After I had betrayed out and all you had given me was kindness, love and warmth, after you have selflessly offered your friendship and I threw it back in your face!” Red dyed in his pale cheeks as tears ran uninhibited down his face, “I knew you’d forgive me but I didn’t deserve it. After all I had done, I couldn’t face you.”

“Then why approach me now?” He asked, gently brushing the lines of tears away. 

Akechi didn’t answer for several tense, awkward moments before quietly stating, “I couldn’t stop myself. My feet, they moved on their own, towards you. I-” he paused, sniffed hard, bottom lip trembling before continuing in a warbling voice, “I wanted to see you. I’ve always wanted to see you. I couldn’t face you but I wanted to see you again, to meet with you again, to hear you call my name just one more time.” 

His body moved before he could even realize it was. Yanking Akechi’s head forward, he closed the small distance between them and crushed their lips together. It was a hard, desperate kiss with a complete lack of sensuality and romanticism - just lips and teeth clashing together in a mixture of pain and the sweetest relief. Shoving Akechi backwards, the umbrella falling from his hand, until his back collided with the stone wall of the building behind them, Akira pressed their chests tightly together, held his head firmly in place and slowly broke the kiss, leaning back just far enough that he could look into Akechi’s eyes. 

His mouth was half open, cheeks dyed a vibrant shade of red, hard puffs of breaths passing through his parted lips and those eyes showed a beautiful spark of warmth and light. Staring into his face, Akira was vividly reminded of their first kiss. It hadn’t been like this - it had been soft, gentle, a hesitant brushing of lips as they sat together late one night in a booth in LeBlanc but the expression was similar: red cheeks, out of breath, flustered but clearly not upset with the contact. As the memory flashed across his mind’s eye, the love he felt towards Akechi came back in full force, and with it came the most immense, bright happiness, relief he had ever felt. 

Pressing another kiss against Akechi’s lips, this one much more gentle, he whispered, “I’ve wanted to see you too. When I thought you were gone, it was so painful. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. I tried to move on, to accept it but I always wanted to see you, for you to come back to me.” 

Breathing hard, tears sliding down his cheeks, he pressed desperate, slobbery kisses along Akechi’s cheeks, nose, forehead, eyes and mouth, whispering in-between pecks, “I missed you. I wanted to see you. I love you so much. I love you so fucking much.”

“Stop!” Akechi gasped, slender hands pressing against his chest and weakly pushing him away, “I don’t deserve-”

“I don’t care.” Pulling back, he forced Akechi to look at him. Tired, sad, red rimmed, teary eyes met his own. Brushing his sopping wet hair out of his face, he smiled softly, shook his head slowly and said, “You seem to forget, I saw everything that happened to you, all that bastard did to you, how much he manipulated you, how close he drove you to destruction but you stood strong in the end and sacrificed so much that we could deceive? You don’t deserve forgiveness? Happiness? Peace? That’s just more lies he filled your head with. Listen to me.”

Leaning forward, he pressed their foreheads together, their breaths mingling in the small space between them, “You deserve all of that. You deserve to be happy, to find peace and I want you to help you find that. I love you so much. I want to stay with you, to be with you.”

Silence fell over them. Cold rain pelted down on their heads but they paid no mind to it. He could sense people walking by, knew their eyes were probably on them, though he couldn’t care less. All of his attention was on Akechi, on keeping him close, making sure that he couldn’t run or escape. It felt selfish and controlling but he couldn’t risk losing sight of him again. Now that he had him back, he couldn’t imagine losing him again. 

“You’ll regret it.” Akechi suddenly spoke up, his voice flat. “You’ll realize I’m not worth loving and abandon me, just like everyone else.”

“Never.” He vehemently replied. “I am never letting you go. I can’t lose you, not again.”

He could feel Akechi trembling against him, could see the internal battle going on inside of him in his eyes. Knowing that this might end up just going around in circles, he took a step back, reached down to take one of Akechi’s cold, thin hands in his own, gripped it tightly and walked back over to the curb of the road, tugging Akechi along with him. There was a little resistance from him but it felt inconsequential, as though he couldn’t dredge up enough motivation to truly fight him. 

“Where are we going?”

“My home. We’re both soaked, cold and tired. I’m going to draw us a nice hot bath, then we’re going to watch some cartoons or something and go to sleep.”

Akechi chuckled, though to his relief, it wasn’t as hollow or sad sounding as before. Rather, he seemed more mystified than anything else, “Sounds like something a couple would do.”

“We are a couple.” Akira replied firmly. Turning, he looked over his shoulder to settle a determined gaze on Akechi, “You aren’t alone or unloved, because I am never going to leave you and plan on loving you with everything I have for this point forward. Got it?”

Akechi stared at him, expression blank, for several seconds before slowly bowing his head, shaking it slowly and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”

“Join the club.” He replied lightly, turning back around. “You don’t have to understand anything. Just stay with me, and I promise everything will be fine.”

Thin, trembling fingers curled around his own as he felt Akechi press into his back. He heard what sounded like a choked back sob before Akechi whispered, “It really was fate, wasn’t it?”

“Fate? Chance? Who cares? We found each other, that’s all that matters to me.” Akira fell quiet for several moments, before hesitantly asking, “Tell me one thing though, was it all an act? Our relationship before then? If it was, it won’t change anything - I just want to know.”

“It wasn’t.” Akechi answered after a few tense moments of silence, “I was jealous of you, of all you had but at the same time, I wanted you all to myself. The way you looked at me, it scared me because I never wanted you to stop looking at me like that. The way you touched me, made me smile, reserved special little moments just for me, they were like water to a dying man. Even when I turned on you, in all my anger, I couldn’t deny how much,” he paused, breath catching before sniffing hard, and continued, “I loved you.”

His heart swelled with happiness. Spinning around, he threw his arms around Akechi’s thin frame and squeezed him close. To his relief and delight, he raised his arms to hesitantly wrap them around his waist. Leaning forward, into the embrace, Akechi rested his cheek on Akira’s shoulder, his entire body shuddering as he relaxed into Akira’s arms. Nuzzling the side of his head, he whispered, “When we get to my house, I’ll make you a cup of coffee, just the way you like it, and some curry. And tomorrow, we’re going to call everyone and let them know you’re okay. You’re probably going to get a couple of punches but everyone is going to be so glad to see you.”

“Okay,” he replied softly, his voice thick with tears, “I....I want to see them to. Even if it means getting punched, I'll take the blows glad. Also, I want curry like Sojiro-san cooks it.”

Kissing the shell of his ear, Akira smiled, “That’s the only way I know how to cook it. And don't worry, it'll be a couple of slugs then I can guarantee you that all the girls are going to want to hug you.”

Still holding tightly onto Akechi’s hand, he stepped back, turned to find that the light had changed, allowing them to cross and quickly tugged him forward. Akechi reached down to snag the open umbrella, lifted it up above their heads and gave Akira a small smile, his eyes brighter and clearly relieved, as they began to run across the road, sending up splashes of cold water that splattered against their already soaked pant legs, though he couldn’t even feel it anymore. The cold, the discomfort, all of it was forgotten. All he could focus on was the little smile Akechi had given him, a promise of so many more to come, the feeling of his hand in his own and the absolute, breath taking joy of having him back.


End file.
